There are two main forms of the canoe. The modern recreational or sport Canadian canoe is open from end to end; it is propelled with a paddle having a single blade. The kayak has a covered deck with a well, or cockpit, into which the paddler snugly fits; it is propelled with a double-bladed paddle. Other boats sometimes called canoes include the dugout (a shaped and hollowed-out log), or pirogue.

canoe parts(Top) The parts of a canoe and (bottom) the strokes required for various canoeing movements.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Columbus recorded the word canoa as that used by West Indians to describe their pirogue-like boats. The earliest canoes had light frames of wood or, for the Eskimo kayak, whalebone covered by tightly stretched bark of trees (usually birch, occasionally elm) or animal skins (the kayak). Others were made from pieces of bark sewed together with roots and caulked with resin; sheathing and ribs were pressed into the sheet of bark, which was hung from a gunwale temporarily supported by stakes. The birchbark canoe was first used by the Algonquin Indians in what is now the northeastern part of the United States and adjacentCanada, and its use passed westward. Such canoes were used for carrying goods, hunters, fishermen, and warriors. The craft varied in length from about 4.5 metres (15 feet)—6 metres (20 feet) being most common—to about 30 metres (100 feet) in length for some war canoes; sometimes as many as 20 paddlers were employed. The dugout was used by Indians in what is now the southeastern United States and along the Pacific coast as far north as modern Canada, as well as by peoples in Africa, New Zealand, and elsewhere in the Pacific. For use in the open sea, canoes were fitted with outriggers, or pairs of canoes were linked by spars (seecatamaran). The early French missionaries and explorers in northern North America used birchbark canoes, as did the voyageurs and others later engaged in the fur trade, which required relatively large canoes.

Modern sport and recreation canoes are of varying size but are usually about 4.5–6 metres (15–20 feet) in length and about 85 cm (33 inches) in breadth. Depth is about 30 to 36 cm (12 to 14 inches), with the ends rising slightly higher. Canoes are made of wood, canvas over wood frames, aluminum, molded plastic, fibreglass, or synthetic fibre composites. The optimum material for canoe construction varies by the intended usage of the craft. Fibre composite canoes constructed of materials such as Kevlar offer excellent durability with minimal weight, making them well suited for canoe camping that requires numerous portages. Aluminum and molded plastic canoes are highly impact resistant and are used primarily on rivers where possible collisions with rocks and other submerged objects might damage a fibreglass canoe. Some canoes are designed or adapted to be propelled by a sail, and some aluminum and molded plastic canoes are made with square sterns to accommodate outboard motors. The introduction of the faltboat (German: Faltboot, “folding boat”) early in the 20th century greatly extended the use of the kayak for canoeists who did not live near water but who could easily transport the folded craft to water.

Canoeing on the Coosa River near Wetumpka, Ala.Jason Martin/Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel